Susen G. Komen for the Cure

Last week, PFAW president Michael Keegan wrote that even if Mitt Romney declined to take a stand on the controversy involving Susan G. Komen’s partnership with Planned Parenthood, we already “know where he is on this issue” because of his previous support of draconian bills defunding women’s health care.

But we needn’t have bothered to make the logical leap. In an interview today, Romney said he thought Komen made the right decision in severing the grants it provided to Planned Parenthood to provide breast cancer screening for low-income women:

"I also feel that the government should cut off funding to Planned Parenthood," the former Massachusetts governor added. "Look, the idea that we're subsidizing an institution which is providing abortion, in my view, is wrong. Planned Parenthood ought to stand on their own feet, and should not get government subsidy.”

This view puts Romney entirely out of step with the countless women’s health supporters who successfully fought back against Komen’s decision. The backlash against Komen was so massive that the organization quickly attempted to backtrack and caused the resignation today of a top Komen official.

Romney is saying that as president he would put women’s lives at risk to appeal to a narrow political base – and that’s something American voters should know.